Forgiveness lesson from flowers (Photo credit: juliejordanscott via flickr)
Bearing the truth of my sinfulness is a life-long endeavor. Between my own ego-driven decisions and the risks of temptation, it can be easy for me to fall into the trap of self-deception. I remind myself of my attempts at goodness and forget our Original Sin.
In today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.”
Prior to and even after my conversion to Catholicism, I carried an overburden of guilt and shame of my sins. The gift of morality is that I feel bad when I have wronged someone. Unfortunately, I would not let that bad feeling go and it could grow into its own monster of negative emotions. It becomes unhealthy for me.
When I look back I think my overburden of guilt developed because I did not specifically ask to be forgiven by the person I wronged.
I accept that I will continue to make mistakes, poor choices, and commit sins. I also must accept and practice asking for forgiveness. From this, I experience the gift of freedom I receive when I ask for forgiveness. It is the freedom that I can let go of my guilt for my sin.
The key for me is to listen to the Holy Spirit because as Jesus described in today’s reading:
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears
What I described above as the gift of morality surely is the Spirit of truth. I may try to ignore him as he guides me in all truth, but he is there in my thoughts – gently reminding me that I need to ask to be forgiven.
Is there someone you wronged and have not asked them to forgive you? Maybe it is time to hear the Spirit of truth within you and take action.
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Enjoy these related articles:
- “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
- You Can’t Handle The Truth! (ptl2010.com)
Tagged: Catholic, Christianity, faith, postaday2012, Protestant, religion, Sin
Well stated. Not many understand the benefits of asking forgiveness. It is enough to ask God to forgive but when the wronged individual is available, it is better to ask them as well. Provocative post. Insightful
I’m also a Catholic convert, and one of the things that I like about the Church is confession. For me, it’s easy to get rid of the guilt by going to confession – confessing everything, accepting absolution, and walking away clean. Before I joined the Church, I’d mentally ask God to forgive me, but without that verbal answer from a priest, I’d be left wondering if God really heard me and forgave me – and thus I felt guilty. Now, guilt is a good reminder that I need to go to confession (and I’m afraid I don’t do that as often as I should), but if I feel guilty after confession, I can remind myself that I’ve confessed and received forgiveness for that sin.
Thanks for sharing this!
As always, an excellent and insightful post. I appreciate guilt — because it reminds me that I did something wrong, need to ask forgiveness and make it right. I’m a convert as well, and dearly love the Sacrament of Reconciliation — such a giant weight is lifted.
Thanks so much for linking up to Saints and Scripture Sunday!
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